[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 49: Jealousy. (Patreon)

William accompanied Reina to wait for her cab. She had actually brought a change of clothes in her purse, somehow. A T-shirt and hot pants made for an incredible sight that tempted him to bring her down to his place again, but he had classes in a few hours and Reina had to go to another job. She couldn’t be a full-time model until she found the success she wanted, after all, so she worked as a cashier at a supermarket as well to pay for her rent. As they waited right outside the building, however, they saw Amelia and her husband leaving. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. William felt a light pressure in his chest, but did his best to ignore it.

“Mr. Sawyer, good morning,” Mr. Wilson greeted, nodding his greeting at Reina as well. Amelia greeted them silently, eyeing the younger woman up and down. “Do you have classes today?” Mr. Wilson asked.

“Yes,” Will answered. “All afternoon, actually.”

“I see. Best of luck.” He nodded, then turned to his wife. “We’re meeting for lunch, then?”

“Yes,” Amelia answered with a smile. “I’ll finish my business quickly. You do the same, you hear? If you leave me waiting, I’ll get angry.”

“I wouldn’t want that,” Mr. Wilson chuckled. He leaned in and pecked his wife on the lips, a move that surprised her…

…and William.

A rush of emotions assaulted him without warning like a slap on the face. The whole of his body tensed for a single moment, but he thankfully had the clarity of mind not to let it show, nor act on those emotions.

“See you then,” Mr. Wilson said and went to his car. Amelia glanced towards William with a short, complicated look and walked away to get in her own car. It almost looked to him like she was escaping.

“…” William kept quiet and waited with Reina until her cab arrived. She gave him a cautious look while she squeezed his hand. Before they parted ways, she gave him a strong, reassuring last kiss.

“Call me whenever you want, okay? Even if it’s just to talk.”

That got a smile out of him. He went back to his apartment, entered the bathroom and watched his reflection in the mirror. He managed to appear normal, even when he felt his chest burning and his jaw tense enough to start hurting. He splashed his face with cold water. In his mind, the scene of Mr. Wilson kissing Amelia kept replaying, making the feelings worse. It triggered memories of betrayal, of past girlfriends going away with other men. An unhealthy desire to punch Mr. Wilson in the face threatened to come over him along with shouting his displeasure at Amelia. He had no idea how he was able to hold that in in their presence. It felt sickening and… unnatural.

‘Ishtar… Is this your doing?’

‘…’

“Ishtar!” he insisted, speaking out loud, his tone stern. “Is this your doing?”

‘Don’t pin your jealousy on me, boy. Your feelings are your own. I’m not messing with them directly.’

“Directly?”

‘Tsk.’

“Ishtar,” William insisted, his voice an impatient growl.

‘Fine. I might have something to do with it, but not deliberately.’

“Explain,” he demanded. In the back of his mind, he knew he couldn’t actually demand anything of Ishtar. There was a clear power imbalance between them. She could alter his thoughts and emotions and even take control of his body if he gave her enough leeway. Yet the sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach forced him to speak, to demand answers.

‘Are you sure? I, myself, don’t fully understand this yet.’

He’d had enough. He just couldn’t erase the image of Amelia’s lips touching another man’s. The disgusting feeling kept growing until it reached a breaking point. He felt bile rising up from his throat and quickly turned to the toilet, vomiting his breakfast into it. Strength started leaving his body, likely due to stress.

‘Ugh, that feels fucking awful…’

Ishtar was starting to sound sick, herself. Even if she wasn’t controlling his body, they still shared sensations on some level. She had to be feeling some of this.

“You’re not gonna tell me puking out of jealousy is normal, are you?” he said with deeper breathing.

‘I’m telling you, I’m not sure what’s causing this. It’s never happened before.’

“Shit…!” William felt lightheaded, and a sharp headache was slowly growing. Did he really have no choice but to take Ishtar’s words at face value? Did she really not know, or was she tricking him?

…

With a deep sigh, William decided to believe her. He had said so before, hadn’t he? He told Ishtar he’d trust her. Not like he had much choice in the matter, but still.

“Alright then,” he said. He still felt sick, but didn’t think he was going to puke again. He brushed his teeth and gargled with mouthwash to get the taste of bile out of his mouth. “How do we find out what it is, then?”

‘We’ll need to pay more attention. It’s how I’ve learned all I have. Observation, hypothesis, testing… Isn’t that what humans call the scientific method?’

“And yet you can’t understand dates, huh?” Will groaned in annoyance, the lack of a quick answer or solution the biggest cause for it. But the fact was there was no way to solve this immediately, so he’d have to suck it up.

Dammit. Class wasn’t gonna be fun today. Not that it ever was.